North Carolina Police Officer Found Dead in Submerged Car

JOHNSTON COUNTY, North Carolina - Police officers across the Heart of Carolina are mourning the untimely death of a brother of the law. Late Monday night, the Benson Police Department confirmed one of their officers had died. The man's body was found in his car which was discovered submerged in Hodges Chapel Creek in Harnett County Monday evening.

Just two weeks ago, Benson Police officers celebrated with 25-year-old Ronnie McLamb as he was promoted to Sergeant. Now they're mourning his death. Late Monday evening, Ronnie McLamb's car, a Ford Mustang, was pulled from a creek on the Johnston/Harnett County line. "We have located a body that was in the vehicle we are still looking into what occurred out here."

A Harnett County Sheriff's Department dive team was called to the creek just after 5 pm Monday afternoon. The car was completely submerged. "The Individual that was taken from the vehicle was last seen Saturday evening in the Dunn area about 11:30 that evening."

Sheriff Rollins says Sgt. McLamb's wife was out retracing her husband's steps when she spotted the car in the water.

Investigators say the car was under 6-7 feet of water at the time. There are no guard rails on the bridge over the creek, but in this case investigators say it wouldn't have made any difference. The car ran off the road before the bridge.

Investigators found a deer carcass near the bridge but can't say what caused McLamb to veer off the road, nor have they said how fast he was going at the time.

While the sheriff's department is treating this as a death investigation, the sheriff says there's nothing at this point to indicate this was anything else but a tragic accident.